‘Geofence’ Warrants Threaten Every Cell Phone User

[pipedreams]

A worthwhile read and something to think about when using your cell phone.  "The opinion turned on the sheer breadth of material available on our personal devices: one might keep a bit of personal information in one’s purse or wallet, but nothing like what’s a few clicks away on any iPhone: texts, emails, calendars, intimate photos, bank accounts, how many calories the owner has eaten that day and which friends they’ve paid money to in recent weeks for which reasons."

 

"The “Geofence” in this context refers to cell phone location data collected by Google from users of its Android operating system, as well as iPhone users who use apps such as Google Maps. Location tracking can be turned off, but most users allow it for the convenience of getting directions, tracking their daily jog, or finding the nearest Chipotle. The Government’s warrant demanded location history for every Google account holder within a range of longitude and latitude roughly corresponding to the Capitol building on the afternoon of January 6, 2021, along with similar data from that morning and evening (to filter out Hill staff and security guards)."

https://realclearwire.com/articles/2023/03/06/geofence_warrants_threaten_every_phone_users_privacy_885359.html

https://www.technocracy.news/geofence-warrants-threaten-every-cell-phone-user/

"Federal criminal law has metastasized to the point where the average person probably commits multiple federal crimes on the average day — which of us is prosecuted depends mostly on the priorities and caprice of law enforcement. If you want a vision of the future, imagine your phone ratting you out to the cops, forever."

[pipedreams]

"In Carpenter v. United States, the Supreme Court addressed the use of Cell Site Location Information, the phone company’s record of which cell towers you phone connects to. This data provides a rough approximation of your whereabouts, but without the precision of Google’s location data — a given cell tower narrows your location down to a couple blocks, whereas Google’s estimated margin of error averages closer to 100 meters."